Conference terminal and echo cancellation method for conference

ABSTRACT

A conference terminal and an echo cancellation method for a conference are provided. In the echo cancellation method, a synthetic speech signal is received. The synthetic speech signal includes a user speech signal of a speaking party corresponding to a first conference terminal of multiple conference terminals and an audio watermark signal corresponding to the first conference terminal. One or more delay times corresponding to the audio watermark signal are detected in a received audio signal. The received audio signal is recorded through a sound receiver of a second conference terminal of the conference terminals. An echo in the received audio signal is canceled according to the delay time.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan applicationserial no. 110130678, filed on Aug. 19, 2021. The entirety of theabove-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by referenceherein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The disclosure relates to a voice conference, particularly to aconference terminal and an echo cancellation method for a conference.

Description of Related Art

A remote conference allows people in different locations or spaces tohave conversations. Also, conference-related equipment, protocols,and/or applications are well developed. It is worth noting that inactual situations, several people in the same space may participate in ateleconference or video conference using their own communicationdevices. When these communication devices talk together, a microphone ofeach device may receive sounds from speakers of many other devices.Thus, many unstable feedback mechanisms are formed, obvious howling iscaused, and the progress of the conference may be affected. While therehave been related algorithms for echo cancellation, in actualsituations, the relative positions of the communication devices maychange, thereby affecting delay time of echo cancellation. In addition,a speech signal is constantly changing. Even if echoes are canceled inthe teleconference, it is difficult to immediately achieve a goodconvergence effect.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the disclosure provides a conference terminal and anecho cancellation method for a conference, in which a watermark signalis used to accelerate convergence.

An echo cancellation method for a conference according to an embodimentof the disclosure is adapted to multiple conference terminals, and eachconference terminal includes a sound receiver and a loudspeaker. Theecho cancellation method includes (but not limited to) the following. Asynthetic speech signal is received. The synthetic speech signalincludes a user speech signal of a speaking party corresponding to afirst conference terminal of the conference terminals and an audiowatermark signal corresponding to the first conference terminal. One ormore delay times corresponding to the audio watermark signal aredetected in a received audio signal. The received audio signal isrecorded through the sound receiver of a second conference terminal ofthe conference terminals. An echo in the received audio signal iscanceled according to the delay time.

A conference terminal according to an embodiment of the disclosureincludes (but not limited to) a sound receiver, a loudspeaker, acommunication transceiver, and a processor. The sound receiver isconfigured to perform recording and obtain a received audio signal of aspeaking party. The loudspeaker is configured to play a sound. Thecommunication transceiver is configured to transmit or receive data. Theprocessor is coupled to the sound receiver, the loudspeaker and thecommunication transceiver. The processor is configured to receive asynthetic speech signal, detect one or more delay times corresponding toan audio watermark signal in the received audio signal, and cancel anecho in the received audio signal according to the delay time. Thesynthetic speech signal includes a user speech signal of the speakingparty corresponding to another conference terminal of multipleconference terminals and an audio watermark signal corresponding to theanother conference terminal.

Based on the foregoing, in the conference terminal and the echocancellation method for a conference according to an embodiment of thedisclosure, echo cancellation is performed using a known and fixed audiowatermark signal, thereby reducing a convergence time required for theecho cancellation. In addition, the audio watermark signal can beprevented from being heard by a user, and the conference can proceedsmoothly.

To make the aforementioned more comprehensible, several embodimentsaccompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conference system according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an echo cancellation method for a conferenceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating generation of a syntheticspeech signal according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conference system according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an echo cancellation method for a conferenceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conference system 1 according to anembodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1 , the conferencesystem 1 includes (but not limited to) multiple conference terminals 10a and 10 c, multiple local signal management devices 30, and anallocation server 50.

Each of the conference terminals 10 a and 10 c may be a corded phone, amobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a notebookcomputer, or a smart speaker. Each of the conference terminals 10 a and10 c includes (but not limited to) a sound receiver 11, a loudspeaker13, a communication transceiver 15, a memory 17, and a processor 19.

The sound receiver 11 may be a microphone of a dynamic type, a condensertype, or an electret condenser type. The sound receiver 11 may also be acombination of other electronic component capable of receiving soundwaves (for example, human voice, environmental sound, and machineoperation sound) and converting them into audio signals, ananalog-to-digital converter, a filter, and an audio processor. In oneembodiment, the sound receiver 11 is configured to receive/record asound from a speaking party and obtain a received audio signal. Thereceived audio signal may include voice of the speaking party, soundemitted by the loudspeaker 13, and/or other environmental sounds.

The loudspeaker 13 may be a speaker or a megaphone. In one embodiment,the loudspeaker 13 is configured to play a sound.

The communication transceiver 15 is, for example, a transceiversupporting a wired network such as Ethernet, a fiber optic network, or acable network (in which the transceiver may include components such as(but not limited to) a connection interface, a signal converter, and acommunication protocol processing chip). Alternatively, thecommunication transceiver 15 may be a transceiver supporting a wirelessnetwork such as Wi-Fi, a fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G)or later generation mobile network (in which the transceiver may includecomponents such as (but not limited to) an antenna, adigital-to-analog/analog-to-digital converter, and a communicationprotocol processing chip). In one embodiment, the communicationtransceiver 15 is configured to transmit or receive data.

The memory 17 may be any type of fixed or portable random access memory(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD),solid-state drive (SSD) or similar component. In one embodiment, thememory 17 is configured to record a program code, a software module, aconfiguration arrangement, data (such as an audio signal or a delaytime), or a file.

The processor 19 is coupled to the sound receiver 11, the loudspeaker13, the communication transceiver 15 and the memory 17. The processor 19may be a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), or other programmable general purpose or special purposemicroprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a programmablecontroller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other similarcomponent or a combination of the foregoing. In one embodiment, theprocessor 19 is configured to perform all or some of operations of theconference terminal 10 a or 10 c to which the processor 19 belongs, andmay load and execute various software modules, files and data recordedin the memory 17.

The local signal management device 30 is connected to the conferenceterminal 10 a or the conference terminal 10 c via a network. The localsignal management device 30 may be a computer system, a server, or asignal processing device. In one embodiment, the conference terminal 10a or the conference terminal 10 c may serve as the local signalmanagement device 30. In another embodiment, the local signal managementdevice 30 may serve as an independent relay device different from theconference terminals 10 a and 10 c. In some embodiments, the localsignal management device 30 includes (but not limited to) thecommunication transceiver 15, the memory 17 and the processor 19 thatare identical or similar to those mentioned above, and theimplementation modes and functions of these components will not berepeated.

In addition, in one embodiment, it is assumed that the conferenceterminals connected to the same local signal management device 30 arelocated in the same region (for example, specific space, area,compartment, or floor in a building). The conference terminals 10 a and10 c in FIG. 1 are respectively located in different regions. However,the number of conference terminals connected to any local signalmanagement device 30 is not limited to one.

The allocation server 50 is connected to the local signal managementdevice 30 via a network. The allocation server 50 may be a computersystem, a server, or a signal processing device. In one embodiment, theconference terminal 10 a or the conference terminal 10 c or the localsignal management device 30 may serve as the allocation server 50. Inanother embodiment, the allocation server 50 may serve as an independentcloud server different from the conference terminals 10 a and 10 c orthe local signal management device 30. In some embodiments, theallocation server 50 includes (but not limited to) the communicationtransceiver 15, the memory 17 and the processor 19 that are identical orsimilar to those mentioned above, and the implementation modes andfunctions of these components will not be repeated.

In the following, the method according to an embodiment of thedisclosure will be described with reference to the devices, components,and modules in the conference system 1. The steps in this method may beadjusted according to actual situations and are not limited to thosedescribed herein.

It should be noted that, for the convenience of description, the samecomponents may implement the same or similar operations, and descriptionthereof will not be repeated. For example, since the conferenceterminals 10 a and 10 c may serve as the local signal management device30 or the allocation server 50, and the local signal management device30 may also serve as the allocation server 50, in some embodiments, theprocessor 19 of each of the conference terminals 10 a and 10 c, thelocal signal management device 30 and the allocation server 50 mayimplement the method identical or similar to that according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an echo cancellation method for a conferenceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1 andFIG. 2 , it is assumed that a voice conference is established betweenthe conference terminals 10 a and 10 c. For example, when a conferenceis established through video software, voice communication software, ora phone call, a speaking party may start talking. The processor 19 ofthe conference terminal 10 a may receive a synthetic speech signal C^(W)through the communication transceiver 15 (step S210). Specifically, thesynthetic speech signal C^(W) includes a user speech signal C′ of thespeaking party corresponding to the conference terminal 10 c and anaudio watermark signal M^(C) corresponding to the conference terminal 10c.

For example, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating generation ofthe synthetic speech signal C^(W) according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. Referring to FIG. 3 , the user speech signal C′ is generatedby the conference terminal 10 c through recording using the soundreceiver 11 of the conference terminal 10 c. The user speech signal C′may include voice of the speaking party, sound played by the loudspeaker13, and/or other environmental sounds. The allocation server 50 may addthe audio watermark signal M^(C) to the user speech signal C′ of thespeaking party corresponding to the conference terminal 10 a by spreadspectrum, echo hiding, phase encoding or the like in a time domain,thereby forming the synthetic speech signal C^(W). Alternatively, theallocation server 50 may add the audio watermark signal M^(C) to theuser speech signal C′ of the speaking party corresponding to theconference terminal 10 a by carrier wave modulation, frequency bandsubtraction or the like in a frequency domain, thereby forming thesynthetic speech signal C^(W). It should be noted that the embodiment ofthe disclosure does not limit the algorithm of watermark embedding.

In one embodiment, the audio watermark signal M^(C) has a frequency ofhigher than 16 kilohertz (kHz), so as to be prevented from being heardby humans. In another embodiment, the audio watermark signal M^(C) mayhave a frequency of lower than 16 kHz.

In one embodiment, the audio watermark signal M^(C) is used to identifythe conference terminal 10 c. For example, the audio watermark signalM^(C) is a sound, an image, or a code that records an identificationcode of the conference terminal 10 c. However, in some embodiments, thecontent of the audio watermark signal M^(C) is not limited. In addition,generation of an audio watermark signal M^(A), a synthetic speech signalA^(W), and other audio watermark signals and synthetic speech signals ofother conference devices can be understood with reference to theforegoing description and will be omitted.

The allocation server 50 transmits the synthetic speech signal C^(W) tothe local signal management device 30. The local signal managementdevice 30 takes the synthetic speech signal C^(W) as an output audiosignal A″ expected to be played by the conference terminal 10 a, andaccordingly transmits the output audio signal A″ to the conferenceterminal 10 a, such that the conference terminal 10 a receives thesynthetic speech signal C^(W).

The processor 19 of the conference terminal 10 a may play the outputaudio signal A″ (the synthetic speech signal C^(W) in the presentembodiment) through the loudspeaker 13. The processor 19 of theconference terminal 10 a may perform recording or sound collectionthrough the sound receiver 11 and obtain a received audio signal A.

The processor 19 of the conference terminal 10 a may detect one or moredelay times corresponding to the audio watermark signal M^(C) in thereceived audio signal A (step S230). Specifically, it is assumed that anaudio watermark signal corresponding to another conference terminal (forexample, the conference terminal 10 c) is known to the conferenceterminal 10 a. It is worth noting that the processor 19 of theconference terminal 10 a may, according to the output audio signal A″played by the loudspeaker 13 of all or some of the conference terminals(for example, the conference terminal 10 a in the present embodiment) inthe region where the conference terminal 10 a is located, cancel an echoin the received audio signal A received by the sound receiver 11 of theconference terminal 10 a.

The output audio signal A″ includes the synthetic speech signal C^(W).In one embodiment, if it is desired to detect a delay time correspondingto the synthetic speech signal C^(W) in the received audio signal A, theprocessor 19 of the conference terminal 10 a may determine initial delaytimes _(τ1) ^(CA) and _(τ2) ^(CA) (assuming that two times arecorresponded to; however, the disclosure is not limited thereto)according to a correlation between the received audio signal A and theaudio watermark signal M^(C). The initial delay times _(τ1) ^(CA) and_(τ2) ^(CA) correspond to a relatively high degree of correlation. Forexample, the processor 19 may estimate an initial delay time for theaudio watermark signal M^(C) to be transmitted to the sound receiver 11via the loudspeaker 13 according to a peak value (that is, having ahighest degree of correlation) in cross-correlation between the receivedaudio signal A and the audio watermark signal M^(C). Since there may benot only one peak value, the number of the initial delay times _(τ1)^(CA) and _(τ2) ^(CA) may be more than one. It should be noted thatthere are many algorithms for estimating the delay time, and theembodiment of the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment, according to the initial delay times _(τ1) ^(CA) and_(τ2) ^(CA), the processor 19 may generate one or more initial delaysignals C^(W)(n−τ₁ ^(CA))and C^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(CA)) corresponding to the userspeech signal C′. The delay times of the initial delay signalsC^(W)(n−τ₁ ^(CA)) and C^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(CA)) relative to the user speechsignal C′ are the initial delay times _(τ1) ^(CA) and _(τ2) ^(CA). It isworth noting that in a time-variant system, the delay time of an entiredelivery system varies with a change in space. Therefore, the processor19 may define a delay time of the synthetic speech signal C^(W) or theaudio watermark signal M^(C) as an unknown delay time Δt^(C). Thereceived audio signal A includes an audio signal a(n) of a speakingparty and a synthetic speech signal C^(W)(n−Δt^(C)) belonging to theconference terminal 10 c. The purpose of echo cancellation is to findthe correct delay time Δt^(C) and accordingly cancel redundant sound(for example, the synthetic speech signal C^(W)(n−Δt^(C))), so that onlythe audio signal a(n) of the speaking party remains in a user speechsignal A′.

The processor 19 may estimate an echo path according to the initialdelay signals C^(W)(n−τ₁ ^(CA)) and C^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(CA)). Specifically, theaudio watermark signal M^(C) is delayed by a converged delay time afterpassing through the echo path, and the echo path is a channel betweenthe sound receiver 11 and the loudspeaker 13. The processor 19 may applythe initial delay signals C^(W)(n−τ₁ ^(CA)) and C^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(CA)) tovarious types of adaptive filters (for example, a least mean squares(LMS) filter, a subband adaptive filter (SAF), or a normalized leastmean squares (NLMS) filter), and accordingly estimate an impulseresponse of the echo path and cause the filter to converge. When thefilter converges to a steady state, the processor 19 estimates, using afilter coefficient in the steady state, the synthetic speech signalC^(W)(n−Δt^(C)) delayed by passing through the echo path, andaccordingly obtains the delay time Δt^(C).

According to the delay time Δt^(C), the processor 19 of the conferenceterminal 10 a may cancel an echo in the received audio signal A (stepS250). Specifically, it is assumed that the echo in the received audiosignal A is the synthetic speech signal C^(W)(n−Δt^(C)). Since thesynthetic speech signal C^(W)and Δt^(C) are both known, the processor 19may generate the synthetic speech signal C^(W)(n−Δt^(C)) and cancel thesynthetic speech signal C^(W)(n−Δt^(C)) with respect to the receivedaudio signal A, thereby achieving echo cancellation.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the disclosure is not limitedto a one-to-one conference as shown in FIG. 1 . Another embodiment isdescribed in the following.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conference system 1′ according to anembodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4 , the conferencesystem 1′ includes (but not limited to) multiple conference terminals 10a to 10 e, multiple local signal management devices 30, and theallocation server 50.

The implementation modes and functions of the conference terminals 10 bto 10 e, the local signal management device 30, and the allocationserver 50 can be understood with reference to the description of FIG. 1to FIG. 3 concerning the conference terminal 10 a, the local signalmanagement device 30 and the allocation server 50, and will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, different regions are defined according tothe local signal management device 30. The conference terminals 10 a and10 b are in a first region, the conference terminal 10 c is in a secondregion, and the conference terminals 10 d and 10 e are in a thirdregion. The allocation server 50 may add audio watermark signals M^(A)to M^(E) respectively to user speech signals A′ to E′ of the speakingparties corresponding to the conference terminals 10 a to 10 e, therebyforming synthetic speech signals A^(W) to E^(W). The allocation server50 transmits the synthetic speech signals C^(W) to E^(w) from the secondregion and the third region to the local signal management device 30 inthe first region, transmits the synthetic speech signals A^(W), B^(W),D^(W) and E^(W) from the first region and the third region to the localsignal management device 30 in the second region, and transmits thesynthetic speech signals A^(W) to C^(W) from the first region and thesecond region to the local signal management device 30 in the thirdregion.

It is worth noting that a difference from FIG. 1 is that the outputaudio signal A″ of the conference terminal 10 a in FIG. 4 may includethe synthetic speech signals C^(W) to E^(W). Therefore, the processor 19of the conference terminal 10 a further detects one or more delay timescorresponding to the audio watermark signals M^(D) and M^(E) in additionto the audio watermark signal M^(C) in the received audio signal A.

Specifically, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an echo cancellation method for aconference according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring toFIG. 5 , the processor 19 of the conference terminal 10 a obtains theaudio watermark signals M^(C) to M^(E) (step S510). The audio watermarksignals M^(C) to M^(E) may be pre-stored, entered by the user ordownloaded from the Internet. The processor 19 detects the initial delaytimes τ₁ ^(CA), τ₂ ^(CA), τ₁ ^(DA), τ₂ ^(DA), τ₁ ^(EA), and τ₂ ^(EA) ofthe audio watermark signals M^(C) to M^(E) in the received audio signalA recorded by the sound receiver 11 (step S530) (assuming that eachaudio watermark signal corresponds to two delay times). According to theinitial delay times τ₁ ^(CA), τ₂ ^(CA), τ₁ ^(DA), τ₂ ^(DA), τ₁ ^(EA) andτ₂ ^(EA), the processor 19 determines the initial delay signalsC^(W)(n−τ₁ ^(CA)), C^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(CA)), D^(W)(n−τ₁ ^(DA)), D^(W)(n−τ₂^(DA)), E^(W)(n−τ₁ ^(EA)), and E^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(EA)) of the audio watermarksignals M^(C) to M^(E) (step S550). The processor 19 cancels, in thereceived audio signal A, the initial delay signals C^(W)(n−τ₁ ^(CA)),C^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(CA)), D^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(DA)) D^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(DA)), E^(W)(n−τ₁^(EA)) and E^(W)(n−τ₂ ^(EA)), so as to reduce a convergence time of echocancellation, and further cancel the components in the received audiosignal A that belong to the synthetic speech signals C^(W) to E^(W)(step S570).

In summary, in the conference terminal and the echo cancellation methodfor a conference according to an embodiment of the disclosure, a delaytime of a synthetic speech signal to be canceled is estimated using aknown audio watermark signal, and synthetic speech signals of otherconference devices are canceled accordingly. In an embodiment of thedisclosure, an initial delay time corresponding to the audio watermarksignal is firstly obtained, and a convergence time of echo cancellationcan be reduced. Even if conference devices have a constantly changingpositional relationship therebetween, an expected convergence effect canbe achieved.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of thedisclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of thedisclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosurecover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An echo cancellation method for a conference,adapted to a plurality of conference terminals each comprising a soundreceiver and a loudspeaker, the echo cancellation method comprising:receiving a synthetic speech signal, wherein the synthetic speech signalcomprises a user speech signal of a speaking party corresponding to afirst conference terminal of the plurality of conference terminals andan audio watermark signal corresponding to the first conferenceterminal; detecting at least one delay time corresponding to the audiowatermark signal in a received audio signal, wherein the received audiosignal is recorded through the sound receiver of a second conferenceterminal of the plurality of conference terminals; and canceling an echoin the received audio signal according to the at least one delay time.2. The echo cancellation method for a conference according to claim 1,wherein detecting the at least one delay time corresponding to the audiowatermark signal in the received audio signal comprises: determining atleast one initial delay time according to a correlation between thereceived audio signal and the audio watermark signal, wherein the atleast one initial delay time corresponds to a relatively high degree ofthe correlation.
 3. The echo cancellation method for a conferenceaccording to claim 2, wherein detecting the at least one delay timecorresponding to the audio watermark signal in the received audio signalcomprises: generating at least one initial delay signal corresponding tothe user speech signal according to the at least one initial delay time,wherein a delay time of the at least one initial delay signal relativeto the user speech signal is the at least one initial delay time; andestimating an echo path according to the at least one initial delaysignal, wherein the audio watermark signal is delayed for the at leastone delay time after passing through the echo path, and the echo path isa channel between the sound receiver and the loudspeaker.
 4. The echocancellation method for a conference according to claim 1, wherein thesynthetic speech signal further comprises a second user speech signal ofthe speaking party corresponding to a third conference terminal of theplurality of conference terminals, and a second audio watermark signalcorresponding to the third conference terminal, and the echocancellation method further comprises: detecting at least one delay timecorresponding to the second audio watermark signal in the received audiosignal.
 5. The echo cancellation method for a conference according toclaim 1, wherein the audio watermark signal has a frequency of higherthan 16 kilohertz (kHz).
 6. The echo cancellation method for aconference according to claim 1, wherein canceling the echo in thereceived audio signal comprises: generating at least one secondsynthetic speech signal which is the synthetic speech signal with the atleast one delay time; and canceling the at least one second syntheticspeech signal from the received audio signal.
 7. The echo cancellationmethod for a conference according to claim 3, wherein estimating theecho path comparing: estimating an impulse response of the echo path byapplying the at least one initial delay signal to an adaptive filter. 8.The echo cancellation method for a conference according to claim 1,further comprising: playing, through the loudspeaker, the syntheticspeech signal received via a network.
 9. A conference terminalcomprising: a sound receiver, configured to perform recording and obtaina received audio signal of a speaking party corresponding thereto; aloudspeaker, configured to play a sound; a communication transceiver,configured to transmit or receive data; and a processor, coupled to thesound receiver, the loudspeaker and the communication transceiver, andconfigured to: receive a synthetic speech signal through thecommunication transceiver, wherein the synthetic speech signal comprisesa user speech signal of the speaking party corresponding to a secondconference terminal and an audio watermark signal corresponding to thesecond conference terminal; detect at least one delay time correspondingto the audio watermark signal in the received audio signal; and cancelan echo in the received audio signal according to the at least one delaytime.
 10. The conference terminal according to claim 9, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: determine at least one initial delaytime according to a correlation between the received audio signal andthe audio watermark signal, wherein the at least one initial delay timecorresponds to a relatively high degree of the correlation.
 11. Theconference terminal according to claim 10, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: generate at least one initial delay signalcorresponding to the user speech signal according to the at least oneinitial delay time, wherein a delay time of the at least one initialdelay signal relative to the user speech signal is the at least oneinitial delay time; and estimate an echo path according to the at leastone initial delay signal, wherein the audio watermark signal is delayedfor the at least one delay time after passing through the echo path, andthe echo path is a channel between the sound receiver and theloudspeaker.
 12. The conference terminal according to claim 9, whereinthe synthetic speech signal further comprises a second user speechsignal of the speaking party corresponding to a third conferenceterminal, and a second audio watermark signal corresponding to the thirdconference terminal, and the processor is further configured to: detectat least one delay time corresponding to the second audio watermarksignal in the received audio signal.
 13. The conference terminalaccording to claim 9, wherein the audio watermark signal has a frequencyof higher than 16 kHz.
 14. The conference terminal according to claim 9,wherein the processor is further configured to: generate at least onesecond synthetic speech signal which is the synthetic speech signal withthe at least one delay time; and cancel the at least one secondsynthetic speech signal from the received audio signal.
 15. Theconference terminal according to claim 11, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: estimate an impulse response of the echo path byapplying the at least one initial delay signal to an adaptive filter.16. The conference terminal according to claim 9, wherein the processoris further configured to: play, through the loudspeaker, the syntheticspeech signal received via a network.